Call of Juarez: The Cartel is the third game in the Call of Juarez series. The game is a portrayal of the Neo-Western genre set in the 21st century and follows a task force comprised of agents from the Los Angeles Police Department, DEA, and FBI as they attempt to take down a Mexican drug cartel responsible for a terrorist attack on the DEA headquarters. A fourth game entitled Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was released May 22, 2013.
Call of Juarez: The Cartel is somewhat unique in that it contains a much wider array of handguns than what is typically seen in other contemporary first-person shooter games, which tend to place a much greater emphasis on longarms such as rifles, shotguns, and submachine guns.
The Desert Eagle Mark I appears as the "Eagle" ingame and is chambered in .44 Magnum. It is one of Ben's two preferred handguns in the game. It is a popular handgun through the mid to late part of the game. Antonio Alvarez and Michael Duke are also seen with Desert Eagles.
The Walther P99 appears in the game with a tan finish and a reflex sight. Ingame it is referred to as the "B99". It was a pre-order bonus, but with a simple text file edit (on the PC version), the P99 and the other pre-order weapons can be made available for use.
The Makarov PM is primarily used by gangsters and Candy Store (a gentleman's club) bouncers. It is called "Makarov" ingame. It is the second default handgun available at the start of the campaign, and the default handgun for Team Criminals in multiplayer.
The CZ 75 Compact appears in the game as the "C75". It is obtained by purchasing the weapon through Ubisoft's UPLAY service for 20 credits. It is not used by enemies. (NOTE: On the Xbox 360/PS3 versions, the CZ 75 can be found on a weapons crate at the abandoned fort AFTER it is purchased.)
The four usable revolvers of the game are used in single-action mode, but can be fired fast enough before the hammer is cocked, essentially giving the player the option to use them in double-action mode. However, the hammer isn't de-cocked before reloading, which would be required in order to swing out the cylinder, and the ejector rod isn't used to remove the spent rounds.
The Smith & Wesson Model 29 appears as the "Model 29". It is primarily used by gangbangers and cartel footmen. The weapon is an homage to the film Dirty Harry, with Ben McCall sharing similarities to the titular character.
The Dan Wesson PPC revolver appears as the "PPC". It is primarily used by captured Vatos Locos gangsters and Mendoza Cartel footmen. If one purchases the game at Wal*Mart, they receive a code to unlock a Dan Wesson PPC Revolver with an optical scope, dubbed "PPC Scoped" ingame.
The Taurus Raging Bull is one of two revolvers (the other being the Dan Wesson PPC) that are mainly used in the last half of the game. It is called "Bull" in the game. It features a black finish, and the red grip is painted black).
A suppressed Brgger & Thomet MP-9 with a digital woodland camo paint scheme is erroneously called the "TMP" in game. It was a pre-order exclusive. Notably, it is the only suppressed weapon in the game, though it does not appear to offer any distinct advantages. It is also the only submachine gun Eddie cannot dual-wield.
The Vz. 61 Skorpion machine pistol is favored by Candy Store bouncers. It appears as the "Skorpion". As with the U.Z.I., the Skorpion can be dual-wielded by Eddie Guerra. Kim and Ben can wield one of these with another handgun. To do so, the player must walk over rifle ammo while wielding a single handgun, and having a U.Z.I., or Skorpion in their "two-handed" weapon slot.
The SPAS-12 appears as the "AS-12". It is commonly used by Mendoza Cartel footmen and LAPD SWAT and is featured without the folding stock. Ben McCall and Eddie Guerra can also be seen with the SPAS-12.
The HK416 appears as a common assault rifle in the mid-late part of the game. The game refers to it as "K416". Ben McCall erroneously refers to it as an "M4". This is due to beta screenshots depicting the M4 Carbine. It was cut and replaced by the HK416, possibly as a result of Colt's falling out with Ubisoft.
The carbine version of the FX-05 Xiuhcoatl appears as the main firearm of the Mendoza Cartel and PKI mercenaries. It is called the "FX-5" ingame. Call of Juarez: The Cartel also marks the first time the FX-05 has appeared in a video game.
The NDM-86 is the first sniper rifle encountered in the game. It is incorrectly referred to as the "SVD" and is the only sniper rifle used by enemies. Kim seems to favor this weapon as the team's sniper. Eddie is also seen using it. Strangely, LAPD officers are seen firing scopeless NDM-86 rifles during a funeral sequence, probably standing for M14 rifles.
The M24 sniper rifle appears as the 'M24" ingame. It is used in a sniper sequence if the player is Kim or Eddie, but when unlocked can be used by any player in any mission. It holds only one round, and shares the same reloading sounds as the "Heavy Rifle" from Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.
The M60 Machine Gun is seen used by several enemies in the game (these enemies have higher health, and in one mission, are equipped with body armor). The M60 is also available as a weapon against enemy helicopters.
The M72 LAW rocket launcher appears as the "M72 LAW". It is used several times throughout the campaign. Enemies using it will also have a laser sight revealing their location. One of the few times it is available for use is against the Vatos Locos helicopter. It is incorrectly depicted as a reloadable rocket launcher in the vein of the Bazooka series.
Call of Juarez: the Cartel is a first person shooter centered around cooperative play. The game is developed by the Polish games developer Techland, and follows the story of several crooked cops. The game was released in North American territories on July 19th 2011, and in European territories on the 21st of July. The PC version of the game is released on September 13th, 2011.
Call of Juarez: The Cartel centers around drug trade between Los Angeles and Juarez, in Mexico. A powerful cartel controls the lucrative drug trade and rules the street in both cities, inciting corruption and violence. Realizing that good cops won't get the job done, local government agencies have decided to put three bad cops on the streets to clean up the mess and rid it of the cartel once and for all.
Each of the characters in the game has their own back-story, as well as motives. They also have their own hidden agendas that unfold during the course of the story. In addition, each character is further differentiated by their areas of expertise; one is more effective than the other with pistols, for example.
Ben McCall is the character most players readily identify as a key protagonist in the game, due to his usage in most, if not all, of the promotional content released in relation to it. Ben is a veteran officer in the LAPD, and also a descendant of Ray McCall. Ray was one of the two protagonists in both previous Call of Juarez games, alongside Billy Mendoza in the original, and Thomas McCall in Bound in Blood. Ben seems to be at least semi-religious, for his introductory cutscene shows several different symbols most readily associated with religion, such as the cross. The religious aspect of his nature may also be a reference to Ray McCall, for in the original game, he was a gunslinger-turned-preacher. His past was only ever explored in the prequel, Bound in Blood.
Ben's reasoning for working with Eddie Guerra and Kim Evans comes from the death of a war buddy he had during his service in Vietnam. His friend's daughter comes to him during his opening cutscene, and asks for his help, as her father said that Ben would help. Ben wants nothing more than simple vengeance, and to punish those responsible for the killing.
Ben McCall's field of expertise is close-range combat. Ben is the best character of the three when it comes to close-range engagements, due to his ability with pistols, revolvers, and shotguns. He is able to reload revolvers much more rapidly than his allies, and he is also able to dual-wield them, further increasing their effectiveness at providing firepower, even if it does increase reloading times.
Eddie Guerra is a member of the Drug Enforcement Agency. While the DEA's ideals are to fight the trafficking of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia into the United States, Eddie is not as concerned with upholding these goals as he is with survival. Due to a gambling problem, Eddie has found himself in debt to a multitude of different organizations. This has led him to start stealing drugs from crime scenes and using those to pay off his debts to the organizations responsible for keeping him bogged down in financial turmoil. Eddie's views are further distorted due to his childhood being in a Los Angeles ghetto, where drugs and other immoral activities were rife.
Eddie is excellent at medium range combat, meaning he is the go-to character for all-round statistics. Eddie's strengths lie in the usage of assault rifles and sub-machine guns, such as the MP5A2. Eddie is a jack of all trades due to his mid-range superiority over his allies.
Kim is a member of the FBI, though her form of justice is less than orthodox. Kim loathes criminality of all natures due to her experiences growing up in the Compton slums of Los Angeles. Her dislike of criminality in all forms stems from the deaths of both her older brothers, who were both gang-affiliated. They were gunned down in a gang war, with two different groups vying for control of an area of the Compton ghettos.
Kim's area of effectiveness is long-range. She is undoubtedly the best marksman of the three characters, possessing extreme accuracy over both Eddie and Ben, who tend to rely more on firepower. As a result, Kim is ideal with a sniper rifle, or one of the assault / battle rifles intended for longer range engagements, such as the FN FAL.
Call of Juarez departs itself from its predecessors by focusing on co-op. Up to three players can play together during the campaign, which tells the story of three members of the authorities that have been grouped together into a makeshift 'task force', in order to counter the Mexican drug cartels. In particular, one new cartel has rapidly grown in power, and the police specifically want this cartel brought to its knees.
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